On Tuesday, the University of Arkansas announced a new partnership with TheLinkU to expand name, image and likeness opportunities for Razorback student-athletes. Since then, I have taken some time to explore the website and hit all the buttons to see what all it entails. My early opinion? It’s actually pretty good.

First the backstory… Arkansas has gone through two failed platforms that attempted to enhance and streamline the NIL experience for its student-athletes in ONEArkansas and Arkansas Edge. ONEArkansas focused largely on non-profits and charitable works, while Edge was managed by Blueprint Sports in what turned out to be — at least from Arkansas’ perspective — a failed effort to connect fans, businesses and athletes.

First, before you read my opinion, I must acknowledge that I opened this website with a little prayer of hope for a new age and without the skepticism I have been dragging with me the last few years… I am trying to put that behind me as we move forward to 2026 and the Ryan Silverfield era. So understand my mental state on this New Years Eve is one of hope.

So, I am pleased with what I am seeing with regard to the layout and structure at TheLinkU. Backed by a little hope and faith for a new era, I think there is a lot of promise here.

It is overdue, no doubt, but there is finally a clean and easy way for every Razorback fan to donate directly to the sport they want to support, from $10 to an infinite amount.

And, while Arkansas athletes are not individually integrated just yet, soon there will be opportunities for fans to directly connect with them.

So not only will fans be able to support the particular sport(s) they want, there are also ways to support an individual player if they choose.

HOW TO DONATE TO SPORTS

The donation page to support certain sports is pretty simple to access. Just click here: Donate to University of Arkansas NIL

Or from the homepage on desktop, click here (TheLinkU.com), hover over ‘SCHOOLS’ and scroll down to ‘University of Arkansas.’ The ‘U’ in University is alphabetical, not the ‘A’ in Arkansas. It’s right under ‘University of Alabama.’ I’d like this to change and just read ‘Arkansas.’

On mobile, it’s the same link, click here (TheLinkU.com). You will see three lines at the top right. Tap that. Select Schools, scroll to University of Arkansas.

There, you will see two options. ‘Donate’ and ‘Events.’ There are no events just yet. Click or tap ‘Donate,’ or just scroll down and you’ll see several options. Each option allows you to select the sport of your choice for which you would like to donate.

There’s the option to make a one-time donation to a particular sport, or you may sign up for monthly donations that come with perks, like a 10%, 15% or 20% discount to the NIL shop (where you can buy team merchandise), a monthly newsletter, gift boxes or ‘shout outs.’ More on the ‘shout outs’ below.

HOW TO CONNECT WITH ATHLETES

As stated, you can also connect directly to the athletes. Just click here: The Athlete Shop

Or, go to the homepage by clicking here (TheLinkU.com), select ‘FANS,’ in the middle of the screen on both desktop and mobile, select ‘ATHLETE SHOP.’ There, you are able to search by school. Again, not the ‘A’ in Arkansas but the ‘U’ in University… so you’ll need to scroll down… or you can type in ‘Arkansas’ and it’ll bring up all Arkansas schools.

As noted, Arkansas players are not yet integrated into the system, so as of now this is not an option.

But it will be soon, and when it’s ready, fans will be able to select the athlete and choose ways to engage with them.

I selected Houston senior defensive back Blake Thompson just to see what my options are. I can select an ‘Autograph,’ a video ‘Shout-out’ that is labeled as ‘most popular,’ a ‘Post’ and a ‘Meet.’

Selecting Autograph, I can have Blake sign a sport specific item for $55, a university T-shirt for $40 and a photograph for $35. As I pay, I can include ‘additional information regarding your request’ to provide Blake details of what I want more specifically.

Blake charges $300 to do a video shout-out, which I found to be quite expensive for a defensive back based on others I saw. But he’ll roast my buddy if I want, he’ll give advice, give me a pep talk, offer a birthday wish or do just about anything. Think of this like Cameo.

Most shoutout costs I saw were in the $50 range. Amare Thomas, who had 972 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns this past season for the Cougars, is only charging $50 for a shout-out, so Blake definitely is on the higher end.

Niccolo Moretti, a basketball player from Florida Atlantic, only charges $20 for one of these shoutouts. But the autograph prices are the same for all athletes as far as I could tell.

Now if I want to meet one of these athletes, I can make a monetary bid and provide details about what I want, and they’ll “do their best” to respond to my bid in 24 hours. In my head, I live in town, so maybe I’d like to pay a star athlete $500 to come to my kid’s birthday or something?

It’s the same way for a ‘post,’ which I assume means a social media post from the athlete.

MERCHANDISE & UNKNOWN

I can also visit the NIL shop and buy player jerseys or university merchandise. Houston basketball jerseys for specific players run $95. Other team-oriented clothing and gear is about what you’d expect, $35ish for a cap or a t-shirt, $70 for a hoodie.

I am not sure what percentage of these purchases go to fund NIL opportunities, but I do know that a portion of those purchases do.

I am also unsure what percentage TheLinkU takes from the donations to support NIL, if it’s a direct payment from Arkansas to run things or what, but obviously they have to make money to operate.

As I reported in October, Blueprint Sports took 15% of Arkansas Edge NIL donations, which would have been considered reasonable had the partnership been fruitful.

ESPN’s Paul Finebaum called the current layout of college football bowl games “a serious problem” these days. There are plenty of bowl games, so it’s hard to miss them.

But the problem, as Finebaum described, is that the postseason is pretty much all about the College Football Playoff. So even the bigger bowl games are reduced, while the smaller ones that come around once a year to smaller communities are diminished.

“Well, I think the playoff decision will be made quickly, and I think there is momentum to expand it for next year,” Finebaum said on McElroy and Cubelic. “The bowl situation is really a serious problem. Cole, you’ve done some games … and will do some more. And I mean, I flipped on the TV early this morning, and this is not a shot at Birmingham, but I mean, I wasn’t really that aware that the game was going on, because things are different. 

“Way before you guys were even around, you knew about that bowl game six weeks out, because it was, it was such a sense of pride in the community, whether in Birmingham or Shreveport or Nashville or wherever. And because of the complexities of college football, that has gone away when a lot of people, you walk into a mall today, they couldn’t tell you who was playing downtown.”

So if you caught a bowl game over the last couple of days, that’s normal. The buzz is simply different these days.

“And it’s hard, because these are essentially television events,” Finebaum said. “They’re great television events Saturday, if you didn’t have anything to do and wanted to watch about eight or nine football games on multiple screens. You could see it, but they’re just not important anymore. The community influence is gone and they’re essentially something to put on between the end of football or at the end of the regular season and the championship game, and they fill in the gaps at weird times of the day, weird matchups that make very little sense. 

“And it’s not completely going away. But every time the playoff expands, what used to be a good or great or average bowl game becomes even less important.”

If you’re looking at the bowl schedule for New Year’s Eve, it’s highlighted by Miami and Ohio State in the CFP quarterfinals at the Cotton Bowl. But there are some good games! That includes Iowa–Vanderbilt and Michigan–Texas.

What do they mean in the grand scheme of things? Perhaps less and less as time rolls on.

Getty

Carson Beck of the Miami Hurricanes.

Miami Hurricanes quarterback Carson Beck faces what will likely be the most significant challenge of his six-year college football career on New Year’s Eve, when his team faces the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The game is a quarterfinal matchup in the College Football Playoffs, so by getting to this point Miami can say it got its money’s worth when it induced Beck to transfer from Georgia, where he spent the first five years of his college career. But how much money does Beck receive?

What is NIL Money?

Until 2021, college football players, like all undergraduate athletes, were supposed to be amateurs. Taking money in any way related to their status as athletes was strictly forbidden under NCAA rules. But a United States Supreme Court decision that June ruled that those restrictions violated federal antitrust laws — opening the door to college athletes receiving monetary compensation for their efforts on the field.

The resulting system allows athletes to be paid for use of their “Name, Image and Likeness,” or NIL. By supposedly limiting pay to an athlete’s personal business activities, the NCAA allowed itself to pretend that its athletes were still “amateurs.”

And Beck is one of the highest-paid “amateurs” in all of collegiate sports.

Miami QB Estimated as 3rd-Highest Paid

According to Pro Football Network’s college quarterback statistical rankings, Beck ranks an unimpressive 36th in the nation in the impact he has made on his team’s ability to win.

But according to the sports financial site On3, as of December 31 Beck owned the third-highest NIL valuation in college football, with a package estimated at $3.1 million.

At No. 1, according to the site, is Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning, whose NIL deal is estimated at $5.3 million. Behind Manning, in the second slot, is the Buckeyes’ sophomore wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who raked in $4.2 million this season.

In all of college sports, according to the On3 NIL 100 rankings, Beck’s $3.1 million NIL package places him fourth. The 18-year-old Brigham Young University freshman forward AJ Dybantsa, the No. 1 high school basketball recruit in this year’s class, places second, ahead of both Beck and Smith, with an estimated $4.4 million in NIL cash.

Beck Rumored to Receive Much More

Beck’s current $3.1 million estimate, however, is considerably lower than various rumors had him receiving earlier this year, when he transferred from Georgia for his final year of college eligibility. Those initial reports put his NIL compensation in the $4 million range, with some estimates ranging as high as $6 million due to various incentives.

But even back in January those rumors seemed inflated, and reporters Bruce Feldman and Manny Navarro of The Athletic revealed a more realistic figure of “a little over $3 million,” which of course fits with the $3.1 million the 23-year-old is estimated to receive by On3.

According to the Athletic reporting team, however, Beck’s deal was still nearly double the reported $1.6 million received by Beck’s predecessor at Miami, Cam Ward.

Ward became the No. 1 overall NFL draft pick this year. Beck is currently projected by the NFL Mock Draft Database to be selected in the fourth round in 2026.

Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering Japan Pro Baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin

Transfer portal season is underway, although FCS and FBS players have yet to “officially” enter the portal. The portal window for official entrances begins on Jan. 2 and lasts two weeks. Starting on Friday, JMU can officially try to bring in FCS and FBS guys via the portal.

The Dukes have currently offered a host of standout D2 players. Several of them plan on visiting the Dukes in January, including these players: 

JT Hooten — A standout LB from West Alabama (6’2 and 215 lbs) with three years of eligibility remaining, Hooten had 69 tackles in nine games in 2025. He has a ton of potential, and he’ll visit JMU this coming weekend, he tells us. He’s received a lot of G5 interest and would be a major addition.

Courage Osawe Jr. — A JUCO DT from Butte College, Osawe is just 19 years old with two years of eligibility left. He posted 20 tackles and two sacks in 2025. The 6’4 and 295-pound prospect also received notable offers from North Texas and UTSA. He’ll visit JMU on Jan. 9 and 10th, he tells us.

Trevell Jones — A LB from Barton College, the 6’3 and 220-pound prospect had 111 tackles in 2025. He’ll visit JMU on Jan. 9, he says. App State, Troy, and Delaware also offered Jones. He’s a stud with one year of eligibility left.

Parker Knutson — 247Sports is reporting that Knutson has visits set with both JMU and Minnesota. He’s a standout CB from Southwest Minnesota State, posting 13 interceptions over the past two seasons. The defensive back would be a massive pickup, although the Minnesota native will be hard to keep away from the Golden Gophers. He has two years of eligibility left.

Other notes

– We’ve heard from a few sources that JMU worked hard to retain current players. Those who plan to enter the portal could still potentially return as they test the portal waters and look for lucrative NIL deals. If the offers don’t meet their expectations, JMU’s increasing NIL budget could sway some guys to return.

– Florida has at least 20 guys expected to enter the portal, according to On3. Some of them saw minimal playing time for the Gators or they had inconsistent performance. It’s possible the Dukes bring in a few former Gators who enjoyed playing for Napier.

– The portal officially opens on Jan. 2 for FCS and FBS players. Players from those levels will start posting official offers, visits, and commitments soon after the portal opens.

– JMU needs help at every position, but quarterback has promise. Quarterbacks Camden Coleman and JC Evans have not announced plans to leave. Keeping those two would be significant.

– Possible returning players likely to step into larger roles in 2026 include Coleman, DB KJ Flowe, DB Chase Regan, LB Trashon Dye, WR Michael Scott, and OL Deacon Rawls, among others. The Dukes have significant returning talent that saw minimal action in 2025.

Photo courtesy of JMU Athletics Communications

Today’s Observer newsletter is from a new contributor: The artist known as AUNerd, who some of you may remember from his blogging days at College & Magnolia. Nerd is excellent at breaking down Auburn football, especially recruiting, roster management and Xs and Os.

I (Justin) am in a group chat with Nerd, and I saw him starting to put together an incredibly detailed big board of potential targets for Auburn football in what will be a massive transfer portal window for new head coach Alex Golesh and his staff. I loved the idea so much that I wanted Nerd to publish it on The Observer.

Christmas has passed, but the real gift-opening season in college football is just getting started. Every year, the transfer portal seems to operate on a new set of timelines, and this cycle is no different.

This year features a single portal window, running from Friday, January 2 through Friday, January 16. Players on active College Football Playoff teams receive an additional five-day window (January 20–24), while players on teams that hire a new head coach after January 2 are granted a separate 15-day window.

Gone are the old fall and spring cycles. By the end of January, we’ll have a much clearer picture of what 2026 college football rosters will look like.

It’s also worth noting that players don’t have to commit during this window — it’s simply the only period in which they can enter the portal. That said, spring semester enrollment deadlines at most universities mean many of these decisions will happen quickly.

For Auburn, this portal cycle is critical.

When John Cohen hired Alex Golesh, he emphasized roster retention. Wanting to retain players and actually retaining them, however, are two very different things.

Auburn currently leads the SEC in players entering the portal, with more expected in the coming days. All told, the Tigers may need to add 35-40 new players over the next two weeks.

That number is staggering, but it’s also the reality of modern college football.

What follows is an attempt to identify potential offensive-side portal targets for Auburn. This list is built from a mix of reported intel from Auburn On3 and Auburn247 insiders, along with educated guesswork rooted in prior staff relationships. In today’s portal era, those connections matter more than ever. We saw that last season with Xavier Atkins, who followed a strong relationship with DJ Durkin to the Plains.

One quick note on methodology: you’ll see frequent references to Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades below. PFF is far from a perfect evaluation tool, but without the time — or expertise — to grind full tape on every portal entrant, it serves as a useful proxy for understanding where a player generally stacks up. This is especially true along the offensive line.

Finally, a disclaimer: parts of this list will almost certainly be wrong. A lot will change in a very short window. Think of this as a starting point, both for who Auburn might target and the types of players this staff is likely prioritizing at each position. Everything is subject to change the moment the portal officially opens.

Let’s dive in.

The NCAA transfer portal officially opens for all college football players on Friday. It will remain open for the two weeks that follow.

Thousands of players across all levels of college football have decided to enter the transfer portal in the weeks following the end of the regular season. Quarterbacks are receiving the most attention of the portal entries, but there are other significant names to watch in the portal.

One of those significant names in the portal is former Auburn wide receiver Cam Coleman. He enters the portal with two seasons of eligibility remaining at his second school.

Hugh Freeze recruited him out of high school as a five-star prospect from Theodore, Alabama. He currently ranks as the No. 1 overall prospect in the NCAA transfer portal.

Coleman appeared in 10 of Auburn’s 12 games in 2024. He grabbed 37 receptions for 598 yards and eight touchdowns in his freshman season.

The Tigers depended heavily on Coleman to facilitate their passing game in 2025. He was their leading receiver with 56 catches, 708 yards and five touchdown receptions.

The schools in the mix for Coleman are prepared to pay significant amounts of money. Pete Nakos of On3 reported that Coleman is expected to command around $2 million in NIL compensation from his next school.

For reference, many quarterbacks across college football are going for around $2 million out of the portal.

With Coleman held in such high regard upon entering the transfer portal, the number of possibilities for where he may land is vast.

Outside of the SEC, Oregon, Miami, and Texas Tech figure to be in the race for Coleman. All three programs have made significant acquisitions in the portal due to their high NIL budgets, particularly the former two at quarterback.

In the SEC, Texas A&M is a program to watch as a potential landing spot for Coleman. He was committed to the Aggies for five months before flipping to the Tigers on Early Signing Day.

An additional reason the Aggies may find themselves in the mix is their success with wide receivers acquired from the portal in the 2025 offseason. KC Concepcion and Mario Craver were acquired from NC State and Mississippi State and both proceeded finish with over 900 receiving yards for the Aggies in 2025.

Texas and Alabama have both been floated as additional candidates for Coleman in the SEC. Both programs have had a successful track record with wide receivers under their current head coaches.